Chapter 033

Chapter 33: Delayed Effect?

Yu Sheng figured his blood did not work on Irene. Maybe the painting used as a seal blocked the infiltration. Maybe a doll simply could not be affected. Or maybe Foxy was the special one.

Nothing happened for a long time. Irene lost patience, looked up toward the frame, and grumbled: “Then wipe the blood off. This is where I live. Having blood on it is bad luck.”

“You’re a creepy doll sealed in a painting and you care about bad luck?” Yu Sheng snapped. “You standing there is already bad luck enough.”

Irene bristled: “Who says I’m bad luck? I look great. How could that be bad luck? People fill a wall with plastic figures. You hang a painting of a pretty lady and call it unlucky?”

Yu Sheng was speechless that she could pack that much into one rant. He waved a hand and muttered, “That’s not the same,” then pulled out a wet wipe to clean the frame.

It would not come off.

He stared. The wipe passed over the frame with no effect. He pressed harder on the frame, careful not to rub the canvas too hard, afraid to harm it. The bloodstain did not move.

What caught his eye even more was the wipe itself. It had not even a hint of red.

No matter how stubborn a stain is, it should not behave like that.

Irene could not see the wipe. She only saw him freeze and began to worry: “Uh, what happened?”

“It won’t come off,” Yu Sheng said, dazed, staring at the stain that looked fused to the frame. “It’s not soaked in. It looks like it turned into the frame’s original color.”

Irene did not answer.

Puzzled, Yu Sheng looked down. The portrait doll was staring at him, brain gone blank. After two or three seconds, her face shifted from blank to terrified, like she had just remembered something awful. She pointed at him and screamed: “Ah ah ah, Yu Sheng, you you d d d d dead…”

Yu Sheng froze for a second, then understood. He sat down in the chair across from her and said: “Don’t say ‘dead’ so many times. It’s unlucky. Even if the count is, well, a bit high.”

Irene paused, looked at him, then went right back to screaming.

Yu Sheng had to get up and try to calm the scared doll. She was far less steady than the fox. Words did not help much. Maybe because the blood’s delayed effect hit all at once, she was extra rattled.

Luckily, an idea flashed across his mind. Next second, he grabbed Irene’s Oil Painting, swung it hard in the air, shook it, then tossed it up with a spin, caught it, and gave it two more shakes before putting it back on the table.

He watched Miss Doll struggle back onto her red velvet cushioned chair.

Irene stopped screaming.

Irene started cursing, and it was very creative.

This time, calming her was easy for Yu Sheng. He soothed her, then explained what had happened. At the same time, he confirmed that his blood also affected Irene, even while she was sealed. The blood seemed to act on the oil painting frame, but for some reason it still reached her. Like Foxy, she now recalled the “events” of Yu Sheng’s deaths she had witnessed.

So far, though, Yu Sheng had not sensed Irene’s thoughts or memories the way he had with Foxy. He glanced at the still-angry doll and held back what he really thought: [To be honest, I suspect she does not have much of either.]

Irene stayed puffed up with anger, but the shock of his return from death mattered more than the earlier roller coaster. She focused on that: “You mean this wasn’t the first time?”

“Yeah,” Yu Sheng said. “It started before I met you.” He thought of the frog in the rain and added: “Don’t ask me the science. Same as with the Door. I only know it happens. I don’t know why.”

“Any side effects or cost?” Irene asked.

“So far, none,” Yu Sheng said after a careful pause. He had dropped his usual carefree tone on this topic. “Nothing wrong with my body or my mind that I can find.”

Irene held his gaze: “Even so, you should avoid this ‘resurrection’ whenever you can.”

Yu Sheng sighed: “I know.”

She explained, as if afraid he would miss the warning: “Everything tends toward balance. Things that go beyond reason and order will face the pushback of reason and order. Resurrection is the most over the top of all. You say there is no problem, but I don’t buy it.” She paused and added, very serious: “It isn’t that I don’t trust you. I don’t trust the surface of this event.”

“I get it,” Yu Sheng said, nodding. Then he spread his hands with a helpless look: “But tell me, which time I died was on purpose?”

Irene went quiet: “Right.”

“I just keep a good attitude,” Yu Sheng said. “In the Valley I had no choice. I understand your worry. Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.”

Irene stared at him a long time, then mumbled as she looked away: “Fine. Just remember. I’m still waiting for you to get me a body.”

Yu Sheng let out a breath. He had to admit, this doll adapted fast. She could accept something this wild and move on so easily. Then she looked up again, unable to hold back: “But really, are you human or not? Are you sure you were born to your parents and grew up on normal food? Can’t you remember anything from when you were a kid…”

Yu Sheng fell silent. [So maybe her ability to accept things isn’t that strong after all.]

He brushed it off with a few casual lines and ignored her mutters. The blood test was done, and he still had his original plan.

He needed to get used to Door Opening, learn its traits, and figure out how to repeat a passage and lock down a landing spot.

Until he could open the Door to the Valley.

He would bring food to Foxy.

Irene finally quieted. Watching Yu Sheng take hold of the kitchen Door handle, she hesitated, then could not hold back a question: “Even if you find the Door back to the Valley, how will you deal with Hunger?”

Yu Sheng slowly turned the handle, feeling that subtle tug from deep in his so-called Spiritual Intuition, and said: “We’ll take it step by step.”

“That means you don’t have a plan,” Irene snapped. “Are you bringing food to Foxy or feeding the monster?”

“I mean I’ll choose based on the situation,” Yu Sheng said. “If I can beat it, I’ll fight. If I can destroy Hunger’s manifested Entity for a while, that could help Foxy break free. If I can’t, I’ll try to pull Foxy out through the Door, but that could leave a mark and Hunger might keep hunting her. If that still won’t work, I’ll at least bring food in so she feels better. Once I can do stable Door Openings, we’ll have time to plan.”

“Fine. If you’ve planned that far, I feel better,” Irene said with a sigh. “Just don’t rush in and feed the monster.”

Yu Sheng thought about saying, If it eats me, its mouth and stomach won’t agree with each other, then kept it in: [Better not say that out loud. The doll will never stop beeping.]

With that silly thought passing by, he slowly pulled the kitchen Door open.

An endless blackness appeared, with dim stars far away. Other than that, there was nothing outside the Door.

Yu Sheng stared at the empty view, blinked, and then slammed the Door shut.

He blurted, eyes wide: “You have got to be kidding me. That was outer space.”